The Sights of Oslo

After a slightly later (flight delayed), wet and cold start to our holiday yesterday, today we ventured out to properly to take in the sights of Oslo.

Fortunately the weather was better today with, so far, no sign of rain!

It seems the people of Oslo are late risers. We set out just after 10am in search of breakfast to find the city almost empty and everywhere closed. After around 30 mins of searching we eventually settled on a cafe in the train station to fill our tummies setting us up for the day ahead.

Our first stop was the famous Oslo opera house. The architect designed it to allow you to walk on the roof. At the top there are some picturesque views of Oslo, well at least there would be if the Sun was shining, but we can't complain, at least it wasn't raining!

Next we went to the Akershus Castle and Fortress. Originally built in 1299 to protect the Norwegians against the Swedes and to today it remains an active military base with guards in dress uniform 'protecting' it.

Within its walls are quaint cobbled streets and beautiful yellow buildings, enough to brighten up any winter's day in Oslo.

Having enjoyed walking through the walled fortress we set off past the Nobel Peace Centre where they decide who gets the Nobel Peace Prize then on to see the extraordinarily quiet parliament square and finally onto the Royal Palace where several more guards were patrolling.

Behind the palace was an assortment of beautifully architectured buildings, each and every one not just a different colour but a completely different design. However, perhaps more surprising, there was barely another soul in sight!

Hidden amongst these buildings, many then embassies, was a little wooden house with adjoining art gallery which was our lunch stop.

Two salmon and scrambled egg toasties later we briskly walked back to the 'crowds' near the palace. On our way we passed a slightly more notable embassy. It was dark grey (just what you need during the winter months here!), blocky (like a 1970s block of flats) and completely surrounded by its own fortress consisting of a mini police tower, an impenetrable looking grey fence with large vehicle barriers behind it. It looked like it had more security than the royal palace where the King of Norway resides! Obviously, this is the US embassy... 

Our final stop for the day was the Astrup Fearnley Museum which exhibits both Norwegian and international modern art. Perhaps the most notable permanent installation there is the one by Damien Hirst. His butterfly art was really beautiful and his attention to detail is amazing,  with the two halves of his collage being almost identical but solely using real butterflies. We shall saw a mother and baby cow cut in half and preserved so we could walk between the 2 halves...

From a local artist,  who also likes to work with real (dead) animals, was a little white rat staring down at his home. The final exhibit which caught my eye was a wall lined with empty picture frames, each with a gallery name on it from around the world, with a gold maid staring at them. However it was interesting because of the reflections rather than the blank canvases! 

Having seen the cow sliced in half (the stomach structure is really quite interesting!) and being freaked by a fat old lady in a revealing swimming costume walking around and then for some reason deciding to sit right next me (Stu graciously refused to move up meaning I was sandwiched between the two of them) we decided it was time to return our hotel.

In the photos shown in today's blog there are 2 with Stu in and 2 with me in. Can you find all 4? :-P